India, March 11 -- Tankers are going dark. In the Persian Gulf one of the world's busiest oil corridors, ships are being rerouted, stranded, and left without insurance cover. The cause is an oil price war entangled with active conflict. And the fallout has now reached India's insurance industry.

Since early March 2026, India's state-owned reinsurer GIC Re has formally pulled out of marine hull war risk cover for the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Iran, and surrounding waters. That single decision has set off a chain reaction. Indian insurance companies, which depend heavily on GIC Re's backing, can no longer offer war risk protection for tankers in the region. For many vessels, that means they are travelling without cover or not travelling ...